Closing One's Eyes
by NATFreak
Summary: As you close your eyes, you wander into a portal of memories and fantasies. A village's leader is causing chaos and a young girl seeks Ginko's help. But is there more to this than a village in trouble? Find out and R&R!
1. Prologue and Long Forgotten Memories

Prologue:

The calm breeze, sweet air, and warm sun put any weary traveler under their spell, have him stop to rest. He soon found himself in a deep sleep, oblivious to all cares and earthly-bound worries. Unfortunately, for one particular traveler, his troubled slumber was about to come to an abrupt end.

* * *

Chapter 1: Long Forgotten Memories

As one closes one's eyes, they are not shrouded in utter darkness, but led into a portal of memories.

"Nui!" called a young brown-haired boy who looked vaguely familiar. "Where are you?

The boy was searching frantically, looking everywhere around him until he saw a white figure.

Crunch.

The boy reached closer… Crunch… as he reached the ghost-like figure… Crunch… he realized… Crunch!

The traveler jolted awake as a young woman with light chestnut hair approached the tree where he was resting. He watched her approach cautiously; when she reached him she sat down.

"Are you the Mushishi named Ginko-san?" she asked.

"Yes."

The young woman let out a long sigh, apparently very relieved.

Ginko looked at her very carefully. "May I ask who you are?" he asked.

"Of course. My name is Yuki from Ryuuvillage. My elders have requested that I find help from a mushishi that I was told was traveling through out mountain. MY village is in grave danger for we fear that our leader has been…" she suddenly stopped as a silent tear rolled down her cheek and looked at Ginko with a begging look on her soft face. "Ginko-san, I ask of you to help us."

There was a long pause as Ginko relit his cigarette and exhaled a deep breath of smoke and interlocked his fingers together. _There isn't much information about what happened to their leader. But I wonder if going to her village will give me the answers I am searching for._ Noticing that Yuki was watching him curiously, Ginko let out one last puff of smoke and looked up at her.

"I will help your leader."

Yuki smiled, thanked him, and led him farther up the mountain to Ryuuvillage, her home.

"Nui. Wait… NUI!"

* * *

"Ginko-san, are you alright?" the voice sounded very distant. "Ginko-san?"

They had paused by a sparkling, flowing stream but as soon as he sat to rest, the brown-haired boy had come back into his mind like a ghost of a memory long forgotten.

"Yes." He replied, slowly standing up. "I'm fine."


	2. The Leader of Ryuuvillage

Chapter 2: The Leader of Ryuuvillage

Ryuuvillage is at the peak of the mountain in a large valley at the bottom of two hills. As they reached the edge of the valley, Yuki led Ginko to a small hut where, she told him, was the meeting house and sanctuary of the Council of Elders.

The meeting house, as Ginko discovered, was very vast compared to how it appeared on the outside. The floor was mostly dirt with a large fire in its center.

Yuki motioned for him to follow her to the illuminating fire. As they reached the fire he made out the shape of two figures, an elderly man and a woman who turned to them and smiled an all-knowing smile at Ginko.

"You must be the Mushishi, Ginko-san," said the elderly man with his knowing, bright smile. He had short, snow-white hair and kind green eyes. "We have been waiting for you. I am Saru and this is my wife, Hina. We are the elders of Ryuuvillage."

Hina was a little younger than her husband and had silver, long hair with beautiful blue eyes that looked at Ginko. They seemed vaguely familiar. "We welcome you to Ryuuvillage, Ginko-san, please sit down." as she said this, she pointed across the fire from them.

He obeyed and sat across from the mysterious elders as they told Yuki to get something. As her chestnut hair vanished out of sight the elders turned back to Ginko, bend their heads together, then looked back at the Mushishi.

Finally, "We sense," began Hina watched him closely, "that there are answers to many questions you are looking for."

"We also sense," continued Saru, "That the answers you seek we can tell you."

His one green eye widened. _Could they really answer my questions?_

"How do you know what I'm searching for?" asked Ginko.

"Ha-ha," laughed Saru, turning to his wife, "Did you just hear him, Hina? He doesn't trust us. Why should he?"

"Actually, Saru," replied Hina, smiling, "He should since we knew Nui."

_Nui?_ Ginko's mind flashed to the dream of a young boy chasing after a ghost. "Excuse me, honorable elders, but even if you know, would you tell me?"

"_If_ we know?" chimed the elders. "Of course we know Nui! But..."

"But?" Ginko asked anxiously.

"But we will only answer you," said the smiling Saru. "if you will help our leader."

The brightness of the fiery barrier lit up the faces of the mysterious elders, and as Ginko watched them, they showed only that they were completely serious about what they had offered. Yet Ginko still did not know whether to trust the wise strangers or if he could help their leader with so little information.

"What is wrong with your leader, exactly?" he asked.

Saru glanced at Hina with a sad look and forced Ginko with the same look Yuki had when she asked Ginko for help.

"You should know Ginko-san," he began sadly. "That our lea-...**CRASH!!!!!**

The sound of breaking glass outside the door broke through Saru in mid-sentence. "Please Tazuta, be more careful." The voice was soon drowned out by a loud BANG and grunt as the door of the meeting house broke off its hinges and flew into the fire. Sunlight poured into the meeting house and as Ginko's eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, two figures entered. One was the young Yuki, who was standing behind a tall, muscular man with brown hair and blue eyes.

"Ah... Tazuta!" exclaimed Hina with a slightly scared expression. "We were hoping you would come."

Tazuta just grunted and looked from the elders to Ginko. "Who iss hee?" he hissed still staring at the Mushishi. His voice was like ice and sliced through the air. The aura surrounding the leader was intensifying the atmosphere leaving the people around him trembling.

"His name is Ginko-san, leader-sama." answered Saru shakily with a waning smile. "His is here to help the village with minor matters."

"Sssuch asss?" demanded Tazuta, as the deadly aura continued to increase.

"Such as... uhm..."

"Such as minor farming issues such as where to dig next and such." Stuttered Yuhi from behind as her hair glowed in the sun's rays. "Matters that are so small you need not concern yourself too much, Tazuta."

"Yes," replied Saru, "We just wanted to tell you but it is after all, a small matter."

The leader's stare pressed down on them looking like he did not believe this reason, but shrugged, motioned to Yuki to follow him, and left through the doorway with Yuki close behind.

_So that was their leader,_ thought Ginko, who had taken out a new cigarette and lit it in the fire. _I believe it was a mushi. _But for the Mushishi to be sure he needed more information and turned to the elder who were still looking out the door.

Ginko exhaled a puff of smoke and interlocked his fingers. "Excuse me, wise elders, but before your leader came in you were about to say something. What was it?"

The elderly couple tore their eyes from the door and looked at Ginko with a very desperate, imploring look.

"As Saru was saying," answered Hina. "You should know that our leader was once a very kind, honest person. We wanted you to know that before you saw him. Like..." and she fell silent.

"Also that we asked Yuki," continued her husband with his arm around her. "to bring Tazuta here so you could observe him and tell us the exact reason why he is like this and help us return him to his old self."

Ginko let out a deep sigh and lowered his head thinking carefully. _I understand but I still need to know more about what happened. _

"I understand how you feel," he said carefully, raising his head. "But for me to help, I need to know exactly what happened to him when he _changed_."

Saru exchanged a sad glance with Hina, nodded, and looked at Ginko with a sad smile. "You should also know, Ginko-san" said the elder. "that not many others know this. So please confide this within yourself and tell no one."

"What is this secret?" asked Ginko.

"That Tazuta is our only son and living child. He is also Yuki's husband."


	3. The Hidden Secret

Chapter 3: The Hidden Secret 

Gino's green eye widened but he was not completely surprised. After all, it would explain why Yuki was so fond of Tazuta and why Hina looked like a mother who lost her only son.

"Why do you want to keep that a secret?" asked Ginko.

Hina came from under her husband's arm and sighed. "I would be the one to blame for that." She said with a said smile. "Once when I was young, I lived in the village of Rin where I ruled alongside my family as the leader's only daughter. I was betrothed at 18 to a wealthy lord's son to join the two lands together but I had already fallen in love with someone else. So I decided to elope and run away."

She paused as Saru gave her a loving pat on her shoulder.

"It was in the spring when we met," continued the nostalgic Hina. "we were young but we fell in love instantly. But when I knew I was betrothed, I decided to run away with him and eloped. A few years later I had a child but it died in its first summer and I fell into a sickness. 5 years later, I had Tazuta and we moved here to Ruuyvillage. This at the time was just farming and took over it as the leaders."

She paused again, taking a deep breath as Saru continued to pat her arm.

"How 'bout I continue from here?" Her husband suggested as she silently nodded her head. "When Tazuta became an adult, we decided to retire and let him rule and he was a great leader who everyone loved and admired, especially Yuki. But that was until a fortnight ago when our son came to the council house with those strange eyes and hissed in an unusual way, ordering that if anyone wanted to see him to come to his hut. We did not know what happened to our kind, loving Tazuta and decided to find help."

As Saru finished, Ginko did not move but was thoughtfully considering that it was, as he suspected, a mushi but there was only one way to be sure.

"After you noticed a change in Tazuta-san," began Ginko with his cigarette held between his index finger and thumb. "was he ever afraid of approaching sources of light, such as the sun or fire?"

"Yes," answered Hina quietly as she realized it. "he was always shut in his room with the windows covered and he never approached the council fire."

"Why do you ask that?" inquired Saru.

"To confirm my suspicion," he answered with a small smile. "of a mushi controlling your son."

"Mushi?" asked the elders curiously.

"A mushi," explained Ginko with a knowing look in his eye. "is a spirit or insect-like creature that causes paranormal things to occur. Not everyone can see them; fewer know how to handle them. This particular mushi is called Kagichi; it lives in dark corners of caves and will only attack during a full moon." He paused to take out a scroll from his traveling pack and opens up to a picture of a black, rectangular creature.

"The Kagichi enters through the ears and attaches to the brain and attains all of the victim's information. Then the mushi exits and makes a copy of its victim, and stores the original in the cave."

As the wood door turned to ash in the slowly dying fire, the two elders turned away from Ginko and whispered to each other.

_Damn_, thought Ginko growing impatient as he watched the two. _If it was the last full moon the mushi attacked their leader we don't have any time to discuss. We need to need to—_

"Ginko-san,"

Saru and Hina had turned back around to face him and instead of an imploring look, they had their knowing look on their faces.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We know what cave our Tazuta is in." replied Hina with an air of determination. "He visits every month to sit at the entrance and watch the sun disappear behind the hills."

"That is not our greatest problem." sighed Ginko.

"What is?" asked Hina.

"That there is not much time left." He answered thinking quickly. _The cave will provide the body, but I also have to locate the mushi inside the fake body and lure it out with a source of light. _

"What do you mean," asked Saru confused. "that there is not much time left?"

"I believe what he means," replied Hina thoughtfully. "that there is a time limit to saving Tazuta."

"Exactly, elder Hina." nodded Ginko. "If the mushi is not extracted from the faux body before the full moon, Tazuta-san's real body will perish and the mushi will remain in the fake permanently."

"Permanently?" echoed Hina weakly. "The full moon is in exactly one day. How are we-"

"That's the problem." interrupted Ginko. "The only way to bring out a Kagichi is to use some kind of light to lure it out and capture it."

"That's easy enough." replied Saru suddenly. "You can use fire."

"But that seems too simple." came Hina's voice under his arm that now rested on her head. "The way Ginko-san is explaining it; there must be more to it. Right, Ginko-san?"

Ginko did not answer Hina or even show that he was listening at all, instead he had his head behind his intwined fingers thinking rapidly.

_The Kagichi is becoming more self-aware, it might already be too late to remove it unless..._ While completely oblivious to everything else, Ginko crossed the room to a wall where he had put down his belongings and sifted through the various scrolls. It took several minutes, as the elders eyed him curiously, until he found a heavy blue rimmed scroll and returned to the fire.

"Ah." He whispered, opening the large scroll. "There is only one way to remove a Kagichi when it is this developed: you have to immobilize the false body and then pour melted wax into one ear to force the mushi to use the real body and capture it."

As he finished, Ginko remembered that he was not alone and looked at the elders who stared back amazed. There was a long silence until the elders shared a glance, nodded, and turned back to the Mushishi.

"What is it?" asked Ginko.

"Ginko-san," began Saru. "you first told us that there was no time left and now you are telling us that there is a way to save Tazuta?"

"Yes." He answered.

"How can we trust that? asked Hina. "How do you know it will work?"

"How can we trust that?!" echoed Ginko, smiling. "Elders, **you** send one of **your** villagers to locate **me** specifically and then ask **me** to help **you** in exchange for answers. How can **I** trust **that**? I am suddenly having strange visions and dreams of an old memory that I do not remember. A memory of..."

"A young brunette boy named Yoki following a white ghost-like figure." Finished Hina, smiling sadly.

"How do you know..."

"So much about you?" replied Hina. "We have known you since you were a little baby in your mother's arms, years before that dreadful rock slide."

"Wait..." said the startled mushishi.

"Enough Hina!" Interjected Saru. "He will learn in due time only **if** his plans work."

"But Saru," objected Hina. "He deserves to know! In fact, he has every right to know!"

"And he will know," said her husband. "**if** he saves our son as he promised."

"But-" began Hina weakly.

"Saru-sama is right." said Ginko, rolling up his scroll. "I made a promise to help your leader and I will keep that promise."

Saru nodded approvingly, but Hina still looked slightly guilty.

"So," Saru looked at Ginko. what is your plan Ginko-san?"


	4. Ginko's Plan

Chapter 4: Ginko's Plan

As the rays of the descending moon swept over the mountain like a snowy blanket, the mushishi finished laying out his plan to the elders across their now dying, fiery divider.

"And that should bring out the Kagichi which I will then capture in this." Finished Ginko holding out a tiny glass bottle. "Once I have captured it, your leader will regain consciousness and return to the village."

"You are sure this will work," asked Saru once more. "and that it will bring Tazuta back?"

"Definitely." replied Ginko, confidently. "But first we must locate the fake Tazuta. After we accomplish that, I will need the assistance of someone strong to hold him down so I can inject the wax into the ear and lure out the Kagichi."

Saru nodded apparently convinced that the plan would succeed, but Hina was sitting beside him with the same guilty look.

"Ginko-san." She spoke so suddenly that both men stared at her in surprise. "Are you most certain that you do not want us to-"

"ENOUGH HINA!" shouted Saru.

"NO! IT'S NOT ENOUGH ANYMORE!" screamed Hina with tears glistening in her eyes. "He deserves to know! He has every right, Saru!"

The elder sobbed as her husband's face softened and began to pat her consolingly on the shoulder.

_What is it that is so important for them to tell me that Hina-sama is so distraught? Maybe I should let them... _But at that thought he shook his head. _No, right now there is no time for that, we have to locate the fake Tazuta._

"Elders," Spoke Ginko gently as Hina slowly raised her head. "I made a promise. Anyway, the time to discuss those secrets is not now. Now is the time to find gthe fake Tazuta. Do you have any idea where he may be?"

Hina looked at her husband who had a weird look on his face.

"What is it, Saru/?"

"Ginko-san," began Saru, ignoring Hina. "What if the mushi was in the cave?"

"You mean the cave with Tazuta's body?" inquired Ginko as he watched Saru nod his head. "You think it might kill your son?"

"Will that thing..." began Hina, but was silenced by a reassuring smile from Ginko.

"You do not need to worry about that just yet."

"What do you mean just yet?" asked Saru frowning.

"You will only have to worry **if** my plan does not succeed. Which I assure you will succeed." he added as he saw the horrified looks on their faces.

"I hope you are right." muttered Hina inaudibly.

"Now," Ginko stood up and reached into his coat pocket to pull out another small glass vial and an elegant candle. The mushishi walked over to the fire and held the candle out to the dancing flames, watched it be engulfed like fish food, and caught it's wax into the glistening vial. "Now let's find the faux body."

"But Ginko-san," said Hina. "We do not know where the faux body is. How-"

**CRASH!**

The sound of breaking glass, cracking wood, and a woman's shrill scream drove all three of their attentions to the door.

_What was that?_ thought Ginko rooted to where he was standing.

"That sounded like Yuki." said Hina, looking at Saru afraid.

"Wait! What did you say?" But before he could get his answer, there was another deafening crash and a high pitched scream as people started arguing.

"There iss no problem." Faux Tazuta's voice came from outside the open doorway as the elders rushed out followed closely by Ginko. The imposter was bearing down on a crouching Yuki who was holding her arm as if it was in pain. Hina and Ginko crouched down to examine her as Saru asked the fake Tazuta what happened.

"Nothing iss wrong." hissed the mushi. "The girl just tripped."

"That's a lie, dear elder," came a voice from the crowd. "Our leader pushed poor Yuki because she was trying to prevent him from disrupting your meeting with the visitor."

"That's right!" called out another. "I witnessed it too. Tazuta-sama grabbed Yuki's arm and pushed her onto the ground where I heard something snap."

Meanwhile Hina and Ginko were helping Yuki sit up and examined her arm.

"Ouch!" cried Yuki as Ginko pressed down gently on her shoulder.

"That must be where he broke her arm." said the mushishi. "We need to get rid of the mushi quickly before he can harm anyone else."

But as Ginko spoke, the fake Tazuta had begun fighting with one of the villagers and hit Saru in the face as he tried to shield the villager from harm. As the fake's punch impacted Saru's face, blood exploded from Saru's nose as the bone made a sickening crack leaving the elder crouched on the ground in agony.

"How DARE you!" It was like a chain reaction as the crowd exploded once more into an explosion of anger. "How dare you hurt elder Saru-sama! He has been like a father to you!"

As the arguing continued, Hina crawled to her husband and examined the bloody damage in horror.

"Saru," her voice cracked. "Are you alright?"

"Nnh." grunted Saru as he shakily sat up to face Hina still holding his bloody nose with his hand. "I'll be vine. How is Yuki doing?"

"Yuki needs her arm examined by a doctor," answered Ginko as he glanced at Saru's crushed nose. "as does your nose, elder. But unfortunately we have to stop the Kagichi first so he won't hurt anyone else."

"But how?" asked Hina "You were planning on Saru holding the body down, but-"

"I'll just have to hold him down at the same time." he answered calmly to the horror struck looks of the elders. "There's no other way."

"But Ginko-san," said Hina. "You could get injured and-"

"It's better that it's me than a villager or you elders." answered the mushishi with a smile. "Beside getting rid of mushi is the mushishi's job. Just stay here with Yuki-san."

Without another word Ginko got up and began to inch his way through the crowd to get around the fake Tazuta. As he maneuvered through the growing crowd of angry villagers. Hina, Saru , and Yuki looked on in anxious fear as Ginko approached the imposter.

"Do you think Ginko-san will be alright?" asked Yuki as she cradled her broken arm.

"I hope so Yuki." replied Hina, watching anxiously. "I really hope so."

But as the elder said this, they heard a blood curtilling scream and looked up through the now silent crowd to witness Ginko being stabbed in the leg with a pitchfork and a steady stream of blood trickling down his leg.

"GINKO-SAN!!!!"


	5. Ginko's Past Revealed and Epilogue

Chapter 5: Ginko's Past Revealed

"GINKO-SAN!!"

"Ahaha!" laughed the Kagichi as he observed Ginko bent his knee in agony. "Thiss iss what happenss when you disobey me, a punishment just asss thiss fool hass. Now-ugh."

"Who's the fool now?" asked the mushishi grimacing slightly as he slammed his body into the fake leader and pulled out a slim glass bottle filled with a golden substance and began to pull the stopper off as the mushi desperately tried to pull him off.

"Get off of me!" screamed the Kagichi locating the pitchfork that Ginko had pulled out of his leg and thrown to the ground. With a great amount of struggle and difficulty, it grabbed the pitchfork and began to reach backwards, scratching Ginko's cheek, sending him backwards on the ground.

As Ginko shakingly got back on his feet, there was an eruption of yells as several of the villagers tackled the mushi to the ground.

"What are you fools doing?" demanded the Kagichi angrily.

"Protecting our village!" answered one.

"by helping Ginko-san!" replied the others.

"Everyone." whispered Ginko slightly shocked but then smiled as he pulled off the stopper and poured the wax into the fake Tazuta's ear. "Thank you."

As the wax entered it made a spluttering noise as a black, rectangular shape flew out and landed in Ginko's outstretched hand.

"What was that?" asked a tall, blonde man.

"The creature that was in the fake Tazuta's body is a mushi called a Kagichi that's now in my hand." answered the mushishi. "Not many people can see them, it's a mushishi's job to get rid of them. In this case, this mushi is a Kagichi that hides in the dark, small spaces and will only appear during a full moon. During the last full moon this Kagichi attacked your leader, copied all his memories, constructed a faux replica, and stowed the real Tazuta in a cave outside the village. Now that the mushi is extracted, the fake body will disintegrate, and Tazuta should be awake and walking here as I speak."

As Ginko finished, he walked over to the elders and Yuki as the fake body turned to sand, crumbled into pieces, and was swept away by the wind.

"Ginko-san!" exclaimed Yuki. "Then that means-"

"Look! It's Tazuta-sama!"

"W-what?!" gasped the elders turning their heads.

"Hey!" called Tazuta. "Anybody wanta tell me what's going on?"

"Tazuta!" cried Yuk, tears in her eyes as she ran to him.

"Thank you Ginko-san." whispered Hina gratefully. "Now I believe it is time you learned about your past.'

"But what about Saru-sama?" asked Ginko.

"No. Hina is right." said Saru a little shaky. "I-It is ti-me. I-I'll wait for Tazuta. G-Go with Hina."

Ginko just nodded and followed Hina through the crowd. They went into the forest to a small clearing with a pool of water shimmering from the sunlight coming through an opening in the trees.

"This was Nui's favorite spot as a child," explained Hina to Ginko's curious look. "I thought it would be proper to explain your past here."

"How do you know so much about Nui?"

"Haha. Because I am her twin sister."

Ginko's single green eye widened in shock but somehow he already knew. _No wonder her eyes are so familiar_.

"Since we're twins I have seen her memories of a young boy named Yoki. He traveled with his mother but one day they were caught in a mudslide and only Yoki survived."

"But how did he survive?"

"Nui was walking home and found him hurt, so she decided to take him home. As he healed, Yoki got attached to Nui and did not want to leave here. But Nui, after losing her husband and child, did not want him to meet the same fate."

"What fate was that?"

"Nui lived near a pool of one, green eyed fish that lived near mushi who took your sight if you stared at them too long. If both of your eyes are taken... you die."

Suddenly, Ginko realized that he knew what would happen next as his dream flashed before his eyes.

"One night," continued Hina sadly, "Nui entered the pool and Yoki chased after her ghost-like figure. As Nui was about to disappear, she saved the boy by closing one of his eyes. The boy woke up with white hair, a green eye, and no memory of what had happened. He was found by a caravan and the boy was named... Ginko."

It was like a giant jigsaw puzzle had all the pieces it was missing and it all clicked together, clearly for the first time.

"Ginko-san?"

"Hmm, oh sorry." he said, looking up...

"I know it's a lot to take in."

"No, I'm fine. It's just great to know about my past. Thank you for everything Hina-sama. Now," he smiled as he stood up and threw on his pack. "I must get going."

"Are you sure?" Hina asked as he walked away.

"I am a mushishi after all." He smiled and then he was gone as smoke blew behind him from a newly lit cigarette.

* * *

Epilogue:

As whispery smoke enclosed his head, the traveler sighed in relief. It was always refreshing to regain lost memories. Now, when one closes his eyes he sees himself blissfully happy with a long lost friend.


End file.
